


Two Beings, Artificial

by AJ_Jesterdude_Gone_Wild



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Sadstuck, Talking To Dead People, Taxidermy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:00:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21924052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AJ_Jesterdude_Gone_Wild/pseuds/AJ_Jesterdude_Gone_Wild
Summary: Rose talks with John on the Theseus.Merry Christmas.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	Two Beings, Artificial

Rosebot slowly walks into the dimly lit room, taking cautious steps into the simulated respiteblock. Terezi’s room on the Theseus was close to the original, but with new drawings and things added for decor. Graffiti rebuking Dirk’s current hold on the narrative, drawings of both her and your friends, and John. 

Dirk had explained to her the circumstances around John’s untimely demise in the battle of Lord English. Of course, she already knew all of this, since she was the one who sent John on his way to the battle in the long run. But what neither of the two were aware of was what Terezi did with John’s corpse. She taxidermied it. 

Now, that made sense to Rose at present. Jade’s grandfather was taxidermied, as was her dream-self. And this was not the first a John had been turned into a dummy. John’s Earth B counterpart, John Crocker, was proudly standing in Jane’s living room for years. But when she had first heard of it, she was shocked. Not too shocked, because, it’s Terezi, but still, surprised.

And now, almost a year into the journey on the Theseus, she stood before his corpse and pulled up a chair. 

“Hello.”

She sat, hands on her lap, staring down at the floor, looking all around the room but avoiding her friend.

“I know you can’t hear me. But...I think I could use this time for a small conversation.”’

Kicking a can of Tab soda across the floor, she finally looked into the empty eyes sunken in.

“I wish I knew what you did. What happened. What was running through your mind as it all came crashing down around you. I tried to use my powers as a Seer to figure it out but...nothing. I couldn’t find a single thing about you anymore. Every event with you simply gone from the world like a single drop of water fallen into the ocean never to be glanced at again.”

Her gaze shifted away again.

“You’re gone, John. You’re gone and the world has forgotten you. Time has forgotten you. The story.”

She laughed a sad, lonely laugh.

“I mean, we all remember you. Dirk, Terezi, and I. Everyone else does too, I’d imagine. But your narrative acknowledgment has gone flat. I wonder what you’d do if you were alive right now. Side with Dirk? Or with everyone else? Or would you do nothing, and return to being a recluse too scared to continue going on?”

Silence.

“I...I feel I’ve taken that last option. I don’t think I’m doing anything. Is this how you felt, cooped up in your house for years? Useless and scared and alone?”

Her pleas and inquiries fell on dead ears. 

“I don’t think I’ve felt like this since I was a child. Thirteen. In New York, with just myself and my mother. At that time I did also have you and Dave and Jade but...I could never reach out and touch you all. And then SBURB happened and everything seemingly became amazing and wonderful and it was still scary but I had you all behind me.”

“And now you’re gone. Dave’s gone. Jade’s gone. I’m left alone with a troll who hides away in here most of the time and with a man who...a man who’s constantly parading around in anime cosplay. Christ.”

She buries her head in her hands.

“Does Terezi have these talks with you as well? Or does she just never really acknowledge you? Has it become commonplace for her?”

Rose looked up to the man before her with sorrow in her eyes concealed by her new robotic body.

“You were a hero, John. Thank you for this.”

Rose stood up, and approached John’s taxidermy corpse and wrapped her arms around it, resting her head on his chest. Two beings, artificial, emotion and reason between the two. She closed her eyes, as a small, singular tear fell and soaked the blue shirt beneath her. Then, she turned, gave a faint smile and a wave, and closed the door behind her.

**Author's Note:**

> 🎁


End file.
